In view of the fact that conventional home construction comprises in large part flammable material such as wood studs, rafters and other framing, as well lathe work, wood flooring and subflooring and the like, the danger of fire in homes is substantial. Fires can arise from many different sources in the home including faulty wiring, cooking hazards, and exogenous heat and flame, such as from forest and brush fires.
Even small commercial buildings are fabricated largely with flammable materials and are subject to the same hazards. Moreover, most conventional paints and other similar floor, wall and ceiling coating materials and coverings are highly flammable and thus add to the risk of fire, and its proliferaton. In recent years, efforts have been made to reduce building hazards by many means, including more strict electrical codes, fire proof roofing materials, etc. In some instances, flame proofing agents have been applied to walls, ceilings, etc., in the form of liquid coating compositions. For example, the material disclosed in Farcink (U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,000) is such a material.
Blancquart (U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,700) discloses a thermally insulating coating material comprising interalia, of silica, wood floor, floccuable clay (such as bentonite), and sodium silicate for use as a heat insulating coating material for metal molds.
Firth et al (U.S. Pat. No. 1,819,364) discloses an insulating hot top made from saw dust, clay and sodium silicate.
Chollet (U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,463) discloses a flame-resistant adhesive made from alkali metal silicate (sodium or potassium), kaoline clay, asbestos, and an organic compound such as carboxymethylcellulose.
None of the foregoing material are standardly used in the building industry for various reasons. Furthermore, none of the making sheets of material have been used or suggested for use for sending materials sufficiently rigid so that they can be used as a wall, ceiling, flooring or the like.
Many buildings and structures are formed having walls comprising plaster board. Plasterboard contains a cardboard-like material with a plaster material sandwiched therebetween. This plaster board material, while being relatively structurally sound, is somewhat flammable, and when it burns, it produces flame and gases which are disbursed into the atmosphere. The deaths and injuries which occur as a result of fires are often caused by smoke, rather than by the actual burning of the victims, the smoke causing the victims to asphyxiate. The foregoing problems with prior art building materials are overcome by the present invention which is described below.